Sense amplifier for low voltage high speed sensing

ABSTRACT

A memory system includes a sense amplifier for detecting content of data memory cells by comparison with a voltage stored in a reference cell. The sense amplifier may comprise a comparator, first and second load circuits, and a low impedance circuit. A first input of the comparator is coupled to the low impedance circuit and a reference voltage node. A second input of the comparator is coupled to a data voltage node. The first load circuit loads a reference cell coupled to the reference voltage node. The second load circuit loads a data cell coupled to the data voltage node.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This is a divisional of application Ser. No. 12/972,974, filed Dec. 20,2010, publication No. US 2011/0121863A1, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,049,535,which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 12/493,240, filed Jun.28, 2009, publication No. US2010/0001765A1, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,855,583,which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 11/942,665, filed Nov.19, 2007, publication No. US2008/0239834A1, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,616,028, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 10/838,999, filedMay 4, 2004, publication No. US2005/0249006A1, now U.S. Pat. No.7,345,512, which are incorporated herein by reference in entirety.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to a sense amplifier, and moreparticularly to a sense amplifier for a multilevel cell memory.

Memory systems include sense amplifiers for detecting content stored inmemory cells. In digital multilevel memories, reference cells storereference values for comparison with detected content in memory cells.The speed of and the loading on the sense amplifier impacts itsperformance.

SUMMARY

A sense amplifier comprises a comparator, first and second loadcircuits, and a low impedance circuit. The comparator includes a firstinput coupled to a reference node, includes a second input coupled to adata voltage node, and includes an output for providing a signalindicative of a difference in voltages on the reference and data voltagenodes. The first load circuit is coupled to the reference voltage nodeto load a reference cell. The second load circuit is coupled to the datavoltage node to load a data cell. The low impedance circuit is coupledto the first input of the comparator.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a memory system.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a conventional memorysubsystem.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a first embodiment of amemory subsystem of the memory system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a second embodiment of thememory subsystem of the memory system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a third embodiment of amemory subsystem of the memory system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating a fourth embodiment of amemory subsystem of the memory system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating a fifth embodiment of amemory subsystem of the memory system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating a sixth embodiment of amemory subsystem of the memory system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating a seventh embodiment of amemory subsystem of the memory system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating an eighth embodiment of amemory subsystem of the memory system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 11 is a graph illustrating the timing of control signals and dataof the memory subsystem of FIG. 10.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a memory system 100.

The memory system 100 comprises a memory array 102, an x-decoder 104, ay-decoder 106, an address interface 108, an input/output (I/O) interface110, a high voltage generator 112, a control circuit 114, and a senseamplifier circuit 116.

The memory array 102 comprises an array 126 of data memory cells (notshown) arranged in rows and columns and an array 124 of reference memorycells (not shown). The memory array 102 may be, for example, a staticrandom access memory, a dynamic random access memory, or a flash memory.The flash memory may include, for example, non-volatile floating gatememory cells. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,289,411, which isincorporated herein by reference. Non-volatile floating gate memorycells, arranged in an array of a plurality of rows and columns are wellknown in the art. One example of a type of non-volatile floating gatememory cell is a source side injection memory cell. See, for example,the memory cell disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,572,054 which isincorporated herein by reference. In one embodiment, the memory cellsare multilevel memory cells. An N-bit digital multilevel cell is definedas a memory cell capable of storing 2^(N) levels. The reference memorycell array 124 may be used as a reference system of reference voltagelevels to verify the contents of the data memory cell array 126. Inanother embodiment, the data memory cell array 126 may include referencememory cells for storing the reference voltage levels.

Columns of cells of the reference memory array 124 and data memory array126 are coupled to corresponding bitlines (not shown). Rows of memorycells of the data memory array 126 and cells of the reference memoryarray 124 are coupled to corresponding source lines (not shown) andcorresponding word lines (not shown).

The address interface 108 comprises buffers and latches for addresssignals 120 and provides decoded row and column addresses to thex-decoder 104 and the y-decoder 106. The I/O interface 110 comprisesbuffers and data latches for communicating data with the memory array102.

The high voltage generator 112 generates the high voltage signals foraltering the contents of the memory cells of the memory array 102. Thehigh voltage generator 112 provides a programming voltage signal to thememory array 102 to program selected memory cells, and provides an erasevoltage signal to the memory array 102 to erase selected memory cells.The high voltage generator 112 receives control signals from the controlcircuit 114 for controlling the generation and application of the highvoltage signals, the programming voltage signal and the erase voltagesignal. The high voltage generator 112 may include a charge pump andhigh voltage regulators.

The control circuit 114 provides control signals to the x-decoder 104,the y-decoder 106, the address interface 108, the input/output (I/O)interface 110, and the high voltage generator 112 for controlling thememory system 100. The control circuit 114 controls alteration of thecontents of the memory array 102 through writing and erasing of thememory cells and controls reading of the memory array 102 in response tothe address signals 120 and control signals 122.

The sense amplifier circuit 116 includes sense amplifiers, such as thesensing circuits described below in conjunction with FIGS. 2-10, fordetecting contents stored in the memory cells of the memory array 102.

In one embodiment, the memory array 102 includes a source side injectionflash technology, which uses lower power in hot electron programming,and efficient injector based Fowler-Nordheim tunneling erasure. Theprogramming may be done by applying a high voltage on the source of thememory cell, a bias voltage on the control gate of the memory cell, anda bias current on the drain of the memory cell. The programming ineffect places electrons on the floating gate of memory cell. The eraseis done by applying a high voltage on the control gate of the memorycell and a low voltage on the source and/or drain of the memory cell.The erase in effect removes electrons from the floating gate of memorycell. The verify (sensing or reading) is done by placing the memory cellin a voltage mode sensing, e.g., a bias voltage on the source, a biasvoltage on the gate, a bias current coupled from the drain (bitline) toa low bias voltage such as ground, and the voltage on the drain is thereadout cell voltage VCELL. The bias current may be independent of thedata stored in the memory cell. In another embodiment, the verify(sensing or reading) is done by placing the memory cell in a currentmode sensing, e.g., a low voltage on the source, a bias voltage on thegate, a load (resistor or transistor) coupled to the drain (bitline)from a high voltage supply, and the voltage on the load is the readoutvoltage. In one embodiment, the array architecture and operating methodsmay be the ones disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,282,145, entitled “ArrayArchitecture and Operating Methods for Digital Multilevel NonvolatileMemory Integrated Circuit System” by Tran et al., the subject matter ofwhich is incorporated herein by reference.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a conventional memorysubsystem 200.

The conventional memory subsystem 200 may be a portion of the memorysystem 100 and comprises a reference column 202, a plurality of datacolumns 203-0 through 203-N, and a sensing circuit 204, which may be apart of the reference array 124, the data array 126, and the senseamplifiers 116, respectively, of the memory system 100 (FIG. 1). Thereference column 202 comprises a plurality of reference memory cells 210(only one shown for clarity), and a bitline switch transistor 211coupled to a reference bitline 214. (Only data column 203-0 showsreference numbers for clarity.) A bitline resistor 212 and a bitlinecapacitor 213 are shown as discrete elements to indicate the respectiveresistance and capacitance on the reference bitline 214.

The data column 203 comprises a plurality of data memory cells 220 (onlyone shown for clarity), and a bitline switch transistor 221 coupled to adata bitline 224. A bitline resistor 222 and a bitline capacitor 223 areshown as discrete elements to indicate the respective resistance andcapacitance on the data bitline 224.

The sensing circuit 204 comprises a plurality of comparators 230-0through 230-N, a PMOS transistor load 231, and a plurality of PMOStransistor loads 232-0 through 232-N. The diode connected PMOStransistor load 231 is coupled to the reference bitline 214 to provide aload to the reference memory cells 210, and is coupled to a referencevoltage line 234, which is coupled to the comparators 230-0 through230-N. The diode connected PMOS transistor loads 232-0 through 232-N arecoupled to a data bitline 224 of a respective data column 203-0 through203-N to provide a load to the data memory cells 220 and is coupled toan input of the respective comparator 230-0 through 230-N. The PMOStransistor load 231 may be sized approximately to a reference level onthe voltage reference line 234 for comparing with the data voltagelevel. In an illustrative embodiment, the size ratio of the referencePMOS transistor load 231 to the data PMOS transistor load 232 is 0.5.The comparator 230 provides an output indicative of the data stored in aselected data memory cell 220 relative to the reference voltage.

The conventional memory subsystem 200 has several disadvantages. Thespeed of the sensing circuit 204 is partially determined by the settlingof the reference voltage and the data cell voltage. The settling of thereference voltage on the reference voltage line 234 is determined by thePMOS transistor load 231, the bitline resistance 212, the bitlinecapacitance 213 on the reference bitline 214, and loading from thevoltage reference line 234 and the comparators 232, which is typicallylarge due to the long line coupling for any comparators. The settling ofthe data voltage is determined by the settling of the PMOS transistorload 232, the bitline resistance 222 and the bitline capacitance 223 onthe data bitline 224. The cell reference voltage from the referencememory cell 210 applied to the reference bitline 214 and the referencevoltage line 234 drives a large load of the voltage reference line 234and the comparators 230. Further, the bias on the bitlines 214 and 224is low due to voltage drop from the diode connected PMOS transistorloads 231 and 232, respectively.

In the conventional memory subsystem 200, the voltage overhead of thesupply voltage may be high. In an illustrative example, the supplyvoltage VCC is greater than 1.6 volts, and the voltage drop across thediode connected PMOS transistor load 231, the bitline switch transistor211, and the reference memory cell 210 are 1.0 volts, 0.1 volts, and 0.5volts, respectively. Because the voltage on the reference voltage line234 is nominally 0.6 volts, the voltage swing of the reference voltageis limited.

The memory subsystems of FIGS. 3-10 may be a portion of the memorysystem 100 and may include part of the reference array 124, the dataarray 126, and the sense amplifiers 116, respectively, of the memorysystem 100 (FIG. 1).

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a memory subsystem 300.

The memory subsystem 300 comprises a reference column 302, a pluralityof data columns 303-0 through 303-N, and a sensing circuit 304. Thereference column 302 comprises a plurality of reference memory cells 310(only one shown for clarity), and a bitline switch transistor 311coupled to a reference bitline 314. A bitline resistor 312 and a bitlinecapacitor 313 are shown as discrete elements to indicate the respectiveresistance and capacitance on the reference bitline 314. The referencecolumn 302 may be coupled to N columns of data columns 303. The number Nmay be one or more. For example, the number N may be selected so thatone reference column 302 is coupled to one byte of data in a row or apage of data. In another embodiment, the data column 302 and thereference array 124 (FIG. 1) may be disposed in the sense amplifier 116for high speed as a global reference cell. The data column 303 comprisesa data current source 320 that provides a data current indicative of thedata stored in a data memory cell.

The sensing circuit 304 comprises a plurality of comparators 330-0through 330-N, a PMOS transistor 331, a plurality of reference currentsources 332-0 through 332-N, an impedance circuit 333, and a pluralityof switches 336 and 337. The PMOS transistor 331 provides a load on thebitline 314 of the reference column 302. Each reference current source332 provides a reference current to a common node formed of the datacurrent source 320 and a second input of a corresponding comparator 330.The switch 336 couples the reference bitline 314 to a voltage referenceline 334, which is coupled to a first input of the comparators 330 andto the switch 337, and selectively provides the detected referencevoltage on the reference bitline 314 to the comparators 330 forcomparison with the detected voltage from the data cells in acorresponding data column 303. The switch 337 is coupled between thefirst and second inputs of the corresponding comparator 330 forequalization. Before reading the data cell, the switch 337 is closed sothat both inputs of the comparator 330 are set to an equal voltage.During reading of the cells, the switch 337 is open and the switch 336is closed.

The impedance circuit 333 comprises a plurality of resistors 341 and 342arranged as a voltage divider to apply a voltage to the voltagereference line 334, which is coupled to an input of the comparators 330and to the switches 336 and 337. The impedance circuit 333 furthercomprises a plurality of resistors 343 and 344 and a switch 345 arrangedas a voltage divider to selectively apply a voltage to the voltagereference line 334 in response to an enable signal 349. The switch 345controls the voltage divider of the resistors 343 and 344 on thereference voltage line 334 to enable a low impedance for a short periodof sensing. The switch 345 is disabled so that the impedance circuit 333provides a high impedance because of the voltage divider of theresistors 341 and 342. In one embodiment, the switch 345 is a PMOStransistor. In one embodiment, the low impedance is approximately 1kilohm and the higher impedance is in the range of 5-10 kilohms.

In the memory subsystem 300, the voltage overhead of the supply voltagemay be lower than that of the conventional memory system 200 (FIG. 2).In an illustrative example, the supply voltage VCC is greater than 1.6volts, and the voltage drop across the PMOS transistor 331, the bitlineswitch transistor 311, and the reference memory cell 310 are 0.3 volts,0.1 volts, and 1.2 volts, respectively. Because the reference voltageline 334 is nominally 1.3 volts, the higher voltage provides a widervoltage swing for the sensing voltage. Because the voltage across thememory cell may be higher, the cell current may be higher.

The memory subsystem 300 provides a low impedance path for settling ofthe reference voltage and data voltage, a high voltage swing, and a highcell current. Further, the bias on the reference bitline 314 may behigh. The speed of the memory subsystem 300 may be determined bysettling of the resistor 312 and the capacitor 313 on the referencebitline 314. A very low impedance reference voltage may drive a largeload of the reference voltage line 334 and the comparators 330. The lowimpedance may be traded off against power consumption for fastersettling time.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a memory subsystem 400.

The memory subsystem 400 comprises a reference column 302, a pluralityof data columns 303-0 through 303-N, and a sensing circuit 404. Thesensing circuit 404 is similar to the sensing circuit 304 (FIG. 3), butincludes an impedance circuit 433 instead of an impedance circuit 333.The impedance circuit 433 comprises a plurality of resistors 441 and 442and a switch 445 arranged as a voltage divider to selectively apply avoltage to the voltage reference line 444 in response to an enablesignal 450. The switch 445 controls the voltage divider of the resistors441 and 442 on the reference voltage line 444 to disable a low impedanceduring comparison. In an alternative embodiment, the sensing circuit 404includes an impedance circuit 333 instead of the impedance circuit 433.The sensing circuit 404 further comprises a plurality of referenceholding capacitors 438-0 through 438-N and a switch 439. The referenceholding capacitor 438 is coupled to an input of a correspondingcomparator 330 and to the reference voltage line 444. The referenceholding capacitor 438 holds the reference voltage level (functioning asa dynamic voltage) on the input to the comparator 330 during sensing.This may allow the reference voltage to be less susceptible to powersupply fluctuations. This also may allow the sensing circuit 404 toinclude alternative embodiments of the impedance circuits 333 or 433that can be disabled during comparison to save power. The switch 439couples the impedance circuit 433 to the input of the comparator 330 andthe reference holding capacitor 438. In an alternative embodiment, thememory subsystem 400 does not include a reference holding capacitor 438coupled to each of the comparators 330, but may include a number ofreference holding capacitors 438 less than the number of comparators330.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a memory subsystem 500.

The memory subsystem 500 comprises a reference column 302, a pluralityof data columns 303-0 through 303-N, and a sensing circuit 504. Thesensing circuit 504 is similar to the sensing circuit 404 (FIG. 4), butincludes an impedance circuit 533 instead of an impedance circuit 433.The impedance circuit 533 comprises a plurality of resistors 541, 542and 543, a NMOS transistor 544, and a capacitor 545. The resistors 541and 542 are arranged as a voltage divider to apply a voltage to thereference voltage line 534. In one embodiment, the NMOS transistor 544is a native transistor having a gate threshold approximately in therange of −0.1 to 0.3 volts. The NMOS transistor 544 may isolate thenoise on the supply voltage from the voltage reference line 534. Afilter formed of the resistor 544 and the capacitor 545 filters areference voltage VREF1 to generate a filtered bias voltage for the gateof the NMOS transistor 544. The reference voltage VREF1 may be, forexample, the supply voltage VDD or a reference voltage from a referencebandgap generator.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating a memory subsystem 600.

The memory subsystem 600 comprises a reference column 302, a pluralityof data columns 603-0 through 603-N, and a sensing circuit 604. The datacolumn 603 comprises a plurality of data memory cells 620 (only oneshown for clarity), and a bitline switch transistor 621 coupled to adata bitline 624. A bitline resistor 622 and a bitline capacitor 623 areshown as discrete elements to indicate the respective resistance andcapacitance on the data bitline 624. The sensing circuit 604 is similarto the sensing circuit 304 (FIG. 3), and further comprises anoperational amplifier 660, but also comprises a plurality of PMOStransistors 632-0 through 632-N instead of a corresponding referencecurrent source 332. The operational amplifier 660 provides a loopcontrol to provide bias for the PMOS transistors 331 and 632. The inputsof the operational amplifier 660 are coupled to the reference bitline314 and the reference voltage line 334, and the output of theoperational amplifier 660 biases the transistors 331 and 632. During aninitial stage, the switch 337 is closed and the operational amplifierbiases the transistors 331 and 632 so that voltage is on the referencebitline 314 and the reference voltage line 334 are equal. Duringsensing, the switch 336 is closed and the comparator 330 detects thecontent of the data memory cell 620.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating a memory subsystem 700.

The memory subsystem 700 comprises a reference column 302, a pluralityof data columns 603-0 through 603-N, and a sensing circuit 704. Thesensing circuit 704 comprises a plurality of comparators 330-0 through330-N, a plurality of switches 337, a diode connected PMOS transistor731, a plurality of PMOS transistor 732-0 through 732-N, and animpedance circuit 733. The diode connected transistor 731 provides theload for the reference column 302 and functions as a current mirror tothe transistors 732 that are a load for the data columns 603. Theimpedance circuit 733 comprises a plurality of resistors 741 and 742arranged as a voltage divider to apply a voltage to a voltage referenceline 734, which is coupled to an input of the comparators 330. Theresistors 741 and 742 may be variable resistors. The reference cells ofthe reference column 302 may be multiple cells (e.g., M number of cells)and the load PMOS transistor 731 may be varied (e.g., by a multiplierM), and the resistors 741 and 742 may be trimmed by a fuse to compensatefor channel length modulation offset and for margin checking.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating a memory subsystem 800.

The memory subsystem 800 comprises a reference column 302, a pluralityof data column 603-0 through 603-N, and a sensing circuit 804. Thesensing circuit 804 is similar to the sensing circuit 704 (FIG. 7), andfurther comprises a plurality of diode connected PMOS transistors 871-0through 871-N. The diode connected PMOS transistors 871 are coupled to acorresponding drain of PMOS transistor 732. The PMOS transistor 871 isselected to be a weak diode coupled in parallel with the current mirrorPMOS transistor 732 to provide a small load on the data column 603. Inanother embodiment, the transistors 871-0 through 871-N may be similarin size to the transistor 731 to settle the data bitlines more quickly.In this embodiment, a multiplexer may be included to disconnect thetransistors 871 after bitline settling and then begin the comparison.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating a memory subsystem 900.

The memory subsystem 900 comprises a reference column 302, a pluralityof data columns 603-0 through 603-N, and a sensing circuit 904. Thesensing circuit 904 is similar to the sensing circuit 704 (FIG. 7), butincludes an impedance circuit 933 instead of the impedance circuit 733.The impedance circuit 933 comprises a resistor 942 and an NMOStransistor 944 coupled in series between the supply voltage and groundto form a divider on a voltage reference line 944, which is coupled tothe comparators 330. The gate of the NMOS transistor 944 is biased bythe drain of the diode connected PMOS transistor 731. The impedancecircuit 933 provides a low impedance path.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating a memory subsystem 1000.

The memory subsystem 1000 may be one embodiment of the memory subsystem600 (FIG. 6). The memory subsystem 1000 comprises a comparator 1001, aswitch 1002, a load PMOS transistor 1003, a reference selection switch1004, and a level shifter 1005. The load PMOS transistor 1003 functionsin a similar manner as the load transistor 331. The reference selectionswitch 1004 functions in a similar manner as the bitline switchtransistor 311, and comprises a plurality of NMOS transistors 1010,1011, and 1112, a native NMOS transistor 1114 and an inverter 1013. TheNMOS transistors 1010 and 1011 and the native NMOS transistor 1014 arecoupled in series between the drain of the load PMOS transistor 1003 anda reference bitline 1099. The NMOS transistors 1010 and 1011 are enabledby a selection signal 1098 from the level shifter 1005. The NMOStransistor 1012 grounds the node formed of the source of the NMOStransistor 1010 and the drain of the NMOS transistor 1011 to prechargethe bitline to ground in response to a selection signal 1097 that isinverted by the inverter 1013.

The comparator 1001 comprises a plurality of PMOS transistors 1020through 1024, a plurality of NMOS transistors 1025 through 1029, aplurality of resistors 1030 and 1031, and a capacitor 1032. The PMOStransistors 1020 and 1021 and the NMOS transistors 1025, 1026, and 1027are arranged as a differential amplifier with input terminals on thegates of the NMOS transistors 1025 and 1026. The PMOS transistors 1022and 1023 provide pull up for the output node of the comparator 1001 toincrease the response time. The PMOS transistor 1024, the NMOStransistors 1028 and 1029, and the resistor 1030 provide and enable abias that is applied to the gate of the NMOS transistor 1027 to controlthe differential amplifier. The resistor 1031 and the capacitor 1032form a compensation filter on the input coupled to the gate of the NMOStransistor 1025.

The switch 1002 provides equalization on the inputs of the comparator1001 by selectively shorting the inputs in response to an equalizationsignal. The switch 1002 comprises a plurality of PMOS transistors 1040and 1041, an NMOS transistor 1042 and an inverter 1043.

The level shifter 1005 comprises a plurality of PMOS transistors 1050,1051, and 1052, a plurality of NMOS transistors 1053, 1054 and 1055, anda plurality of inverters 1056 and 1057. The level shifter 1005 providesthe selection signal 1098 in response to a selection signal 1095 appliedto the inverter 1056 that enables the transistors 1053 and 1055.

FIG. 11 is a graph illustrating the timing of control signals and dataof the memory subsystem 1000. The signals shown in FIG. 11 are of anillustrative embodiment of the memory subsystem 1000. The equalization(EQ) signal is used to equalize the voltages across comparators and toequalize reference and data voltages. The voltage on the word line (WL)is shown for selecting a memory cell. The reference voltage (VREF) isthe voltage from the reference memory cell. Two different data levels(DATA0 and DATA1) are shown to indicate the detected data.

The sensing circuits described in conjunction with FIGS. 3-10 mayprovide low voltage high speed sensing. The sensing circuit may befaster because of fast equalization by a low impedance circuit. Adifferential comparator may be fast due to equalization by another lowimpedance circuit. The sensing circuit may allow biasing of the bitlineat a higher voltage to maximize cell current without sacrificing thespeed of the readout.

In the foregoing description, various methods and apparatus, andspecific embodiments are described. However, it should be obvious to oneconversant in the art, various alternatives, modifications, and changesmay be possible without departing from the spirit and the scope of theinvention which is defined by the metes and bounds of the appendedclaims.

1. A sense amplifier comprising a comparator including a first inputcoupled to a reference voltage node, including a second input coupled toa data voltage node, and including an output providing a signalindicative of a difference in voltages on the reference and data voltagenodes; a first load circuit coupled to the reference voltage node toload a reference cell; a second load circuit coupled to the data voltagenode to load a data cell; a low impedance circuit coupled to the firstinput.
 2. The sense amplifier of claim 1 wherein the first load circuitis a PMOS transistor including a source terminal coupled to a supplyvoltage terminal, including a drain coupled to the reference voltagenode, and including a gate coupled to a control signal node, wherein thesecond load circuit comprises a reference current source, wherein thelow impedance circuit comprises a first resistor including a firstterminal coupled to the supply voltage node and including a secondterminal coupled to the first input of the comparator, and comprises asecond resistor including a first terminal coupled to the secondterminal of the first resistor and including a second terminal coupledto a ground node.
 3. The sense amplifier of claim 2 further comprising afirst switch coupled between the first and second inputs of thecomparator to selectively couple said first and second inputs. 4.-5.(canceled)
 6. The sense amplifier of claim 1 wherein the first loadcircuit is disposed adjacent said reference cell, the second loadcircuit is disposed adjacent said data cell.
 7. The sense amplifier ofclaim 6 wherein the reference cell is disposed outside of an array thatincludes the data cell.
 8. The sense amplifier of claim 1 furthercomprising a holding circuit for maintaining the voltage on the firstinput of the comparator.
 9. The sense amplifier of claim 8 wherein theholding circuit comprises a capacitor coupled between the first input ofthe comparator and a ground node.
 10. The sense amplifier of claim 1wherein the low impedance circuit comprises: a first resistor includingfirst and second terminals coupled to the first input of the comparatorand a ground node, respectively; a second resistor including a firstterminal and including a second terminal coupled to the first input ofthe comparator; a MOS transistor including first and second terminalsspaced apart with a channel therebetween and including a gate forcontrolling current in said channel, said first terminal being coupledto a supply voltage node, said second terminal being coupled to thefirst terminal of the second resistor, said gate being coupled to areference supply voltage node.
 11. The sense amplifier of claim 10wherein the low impedance circuit further comprises a filter coupledbetween the reference supply voltage node and the gate of the MOStransistor.
 12. The sense amplifier of claim 1 further comprising acontrol circuit coupled to the first and second load circuits to controlthe loading on the reference voltage node and the data reference nodes,respectively, in response to voltages on the reference and data voltagenodes.
 13. The sense amplifier of claim 12 wherein the control circuitincludes an operational amplifier.
 14. A sense amplifier comprising: acomparator including a first input coupled to a dynamic voltage node,including a second input coupled to a voltage node between a referencecurrent and a data current.
 15. The sense amplifier of claim 14 whereinthe dynamic voltages is from a low impedance circuit.
 16. The senseamplifier of claim 15 wherein the low impedance circuit is a resistordivider.
 17. A sense amplifier comprising: a first load circuit coupledto a reference voltage node to load a reference cell; a second loadcircuit coupled to the first load circuit and coupled to the datavoltage node to load a data cell in response to the first load circuit;a low impedance circuit; and a comparator including a first inputcoupled to the low impedance circuit, including a second input coupledto the data voltage node, and including an output providing a signalindicative of the difference in voltages on the first and second inputs.18. The sense amplifier of claim 17 wherein the low impedance circuitcomprises a first resistor including a first terminal coupled to asupply voltage node and including a second terminal coupled to the firstinput of the comparator; and a second resistor including a firstterminal coupled to the second terminal of the first resistor andincluding a second terminal coupled to a ground node.
 19. (canceled) 20.(canceled)
 21. The sense amplifier of claim 17 wherein the low impedancecircuit comprises a NMOS transistor including first and second terminalsspaced apart with a channel therebetween and including a gate forcontrolling current in said channel, said first terminal being coupledto the supply voltage node, said second terminal being coupled to thefirst input of the comparator, said gate being coupled to the secondterminal of the first PMOS transistor; and a first resistor including afirst terminal coupled to the second terminal of the NMOS transistor andto the first input of the comparator and including a second terminalcoupled to the ground node.
 22. A method of sensing for a memory system,the method comprising: comparing a dynamic reference voltage with adifference of reference current and data current. 23.-73. (canceled)